M/T Tankexpress - Norwegian Merchant Fleet 1939-1945

Owner: Skibs-A/S Tankexpress
Manager: Sigurd Herlofsen & Co. A/S, Oslo
Tonnage: 10 095 gt, 6127 net, 15 310 dwt.
Call Sign: LJMK

Built by Götaverken A/B, Gothenburg in 1937. Previous name: Petrofina until 1939.

Captain: Anders Skånberg.

In Admiralty service from 1940 (Royal Fleet Auxiliary).

Her voyages are listed on these original images from the Norwegian National Archives:
Page 1 | Page 2

Some Convoy Voyages:

As will be seen when going to Page 1 above, Tankexpress arrived Buenos Aires on Apr. 9-1940, the day of the German invasion of Norway. She continued to Rosario 2 days later.

From Page 2, we learn that she had been to Aruba in Oct.-1941, proceeding from there to Halifax on Oct. 15, with arrival Oct. 23. According to Arnold Hague, she subsequently joined Convoy HX 157, which left Halifax on Oct. 28 and arrived Liverpool Nov. 13; Tankexpress stopped at Belfast Lough Nov. 12, later continuing to Avonmouth, where she arrived Nov. 19. This convoy is not yet available among the HX convoys included in my own Convoys section, but will be added; see ships in all HX convoys. She had a cargo of dieso and sailed in station 74 of the convoy. With several other Norwegian ships, she returned across the Atlantic the following month in the westbound Convoy ON 42*, which originated in Liverpool on Dec. 1-1941 and dispersed on the 14th, Tankexpress arriving Houston on Dec. 26 (she had started out from Milford Haven on Nov. 30).

On Jan. 8-1942, she's listed among the ships in Convoy HX 169 from Halifax. She arrived Swansea, via Belfast Lough, on Jan. 26, later joining the westbound Convoy ON 65*, departing Liverpool on Febr. 8-1942, dispersed Febr. 19. This time, she was bound for Aruba, where she arrived March 1. She headed back to the U.K. on Apr. 26 in Convoy HX 187 from Halifax, and arrived Swansea, again via Belfast Lough, on May 11.

The following month, she joined Convoy OS 30, departing Liverpool on June 1-1942, arriving Freetown June 19; however, going back to Page 2 of the archive docs, we find that Tankexpress arrived Trinidad on June 20, having started out from Milford Haven on May 31. She left Trinidad again 2 days later and arrived Curacao June 24; according to A. Hague, this voyage had been made with Convoy TO 9 - ref. external link below (the Norwegian Arthur W. Sewall, James Hawson and Notos are also included). From Curacao, she later headed to Freetown on July 1, joining Convoy OT 13, together with Havprins, Orwell and Sørvangen. This convoy was dispersed July 4, Tankexpress arriving Freetown on July 15.

* The ON convoys mentioned here are available and will be added to individual pages in my Convoys section in due course, along with further details on each. In the meantime, the ships sailing in them (and escorts) are named in the section listing ships in all ON convoys.

For more details on the other Norwegian ships mentioned on this page, please see the alphabet index below, or go to the Master Ship Index.

Related external link:
Convoy OS 30 - Based on Arnold Hague's database (see also OS 30 in another section of the site, based on original convoy documents). The site also has information on TO 9 and OT 13, both mentioned above.

Final Fate - 1942:

As mentioned above, Tankexpress had arrived Freetown on July 15-1942. She left Freetown again on July 22 in ballast for Trinidad (for orders); according to a report presented at the subsequent hearings, signed by the captain, the 1st and 2nd mates, Ordinary Seaman Sivle and Able Seaman Hansen, she was in a convoy* until the 24th, at which time she continued alone according to Admiralty instructions. The following day, at 13:05 ship's time on July 25, when south of the Cape Verde Islands she was hit by a torpedo from U-130 (Kals). A log written by the 1st mate (which is included in A. H. Rasmussen's book "Tilbake til havet") gives the position as 10 05N 26 31W. The torpedo struck on the starboard side in the after part of No. 4 wing tank, blowing away the boatdeck on that side, destroying the lifeboat and blowing the raft overboard. The iron stanchions of the starboard flying bridge were bent inwards, so that the flying bridge fell down. She listed heavily to starboard, but the engine was not stopped and her crew stayed on board, though the captain soon realized they'd be unable to escape because her speed was drastically reduced. An SOS call was repeated four times at intervals on the W/T by the 1st mate before the ship was abandoned, but no acknowledgment was received.

* It appears she had not been in a convoy, but other ships did leave Freetown at the same time, and they were escorted for a while.

The captain ordered the crew to the lifeboats, which had gotten about 100 yards away from the ship when another torpedo hit, this time in the engine room on the port side, but as she still didn't sink the U-boat came up to shell her. From the boats the crew could see that Tankexpress turned over on her side within an hour, until she turned her bottom up and was about to go down when they set sail for the coast (she sank about 2-3 hours after having been abandoned, position as given above, 750 n. miles from Freetown).

The midships motorboat and the 2 aft lifeboats had been launched; the captain, the 1st mate and 8 men in the motorboat, the 2nd mate in charge of another boat and the 1st engineer of the 3rd boat. Provisions were taken from the raft that had been thrown overboard in the explosion, and a heavy rain shower that evening enabled them to top up the water tanks. The 2 aft boats had been taken in tow by the motorboat with course for Freetown, continuing to tow until July 26*, then sails were set on all 3 boats, still tied together. After having sailed about 500 n. miles they were picked up about 250 n. miles from Freetown at 21:30 GMT on Aug. 1 by the British destroyer HMS Lightning and landed at Gibraltar on Aug. 9. They were accommodated in a British depot ship until the Norwegian Consul took charge of them on the 11th and provided the necessary clothing and accommodation.

* According to the 1st mate's log, mentioned above, the boats were towed until July 27. He says the motor had started to fail the night before, but they stopped at 08:00 that morning in order to repair it, before sail was set on all 3 boats. The port boat proved to sail better than the others, followed by the starboard boat, then the motorboat, and they sailed on in that order, with the 2nd mate in the foremost boat, the captain, 3rd mate and 1st mate in the motorboat, from which the navigation took place. Although the motor had been repaired, they wanted to save the petrol they had left, in case the wind should die down. A heavy rainfall that evening and throughout the night meant that rationing of water was not necessary, but they all got thoroughly wet that night (rationing of provisions had been set according to an estimated stay in the lifeboats of 20 days), however, sunshine on the 29th enabled them to dry all their clothes. On July 31, observations showed they were in 9 51N 18 53W, having about 360 miles left to sail out of the 750. The following evening, they saw the silhouettes of several warships coming straight towards them, proving to be a flotilla of Britih warships, and they were all taken aboard HMS Lightning, as already mentioned, having sailed a distance of 500 n. miles in 7 days and 6 hours.

The maritime hearings were held in Gibraltar on Aug. 19. The following appeared: Captain Skånberg, 1st Mate Alf Riiber Christensen, who had been on board since July-1939, first as 3rd mate until July-1941, then as 1st mate, 2nd Mate Ingolf Remø who had served as 3rd mate from Nov.-1941, then 2nd mate from Apr.-1942, Ordinary Seaman Hjalmar Sivle who had been on board since Apr.-1942. He was on lookout duty on top of the chartroom when the torpedo hit. Able Seaman Thorleif Hansen, who had served as saloon boy from March-1939, and as able seaman from about Oct.-1941 was also questioned at the hearings. When the attack occurred he was at the helm.

A month and a half after arrival Gibraltar they got passage on a troop transport to the U.K. where they joined other ships. Alf Riiber Christensen later joined M/T Minister Wedel (and was torpedoed again), then John Bakke and Bergensfjord.